VZCZ Food

A collection of restaurant reviews, recipes and related information about food and wine.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Dal Pescatore, Canneto Sul Oglio

The last time I was here was in 1996, 15 years ago, and it was very good then, even better this time. The Santini family holds a firm grip over this establishment, their son was 10 when I was here last, now he is part of the team that delivers their magic.

Classic and stylish dining room.,

Tomato terrine wrapped in Aubergine brings back memories of a similar terrine years ago.

Villa Crespi, Orta San Guilo

A nice hotel in a villa built in the Moorish style, after having spent 1 hour to drive 10 km as the GPS in my rental car failed to cooperate I finally arrived and was pleased to find I had been upgraded to a suite.

The food however, while several dishes where very good, failed to impress much overall. The place reeks of the 5 star hotel curse. They try too hard to cater to the rich clientele who probably frequents the place. There was a large range of amuse-bouche, all of which were bland and uninteresting. Bread selection was vast, but none of them where any good, except perhaps for the grissini. Why not focus one or two?

None of the dishes where warm, tepid at best. The kitchen is obviously not paying much attention.

The wine menu, turned out to consist of sparkling wine, mostly champagne. While champagne is good, I fail to see why they would serve that with every dish, certainly not in Italy.

Terrible Iberian pork, I had to send it back to the kitchen, as it tasted of cod liver oil.

When settling the bill I found it was unusually steep, and indeed on closer inspection they had charged me twice for the food. Clearly a sign that they are used to clients who do not pay much attention.

My advice is to pass on this place. Try Al Soriso in Soriso instead, just 10 km away.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Schauenstein, Furstenau

This is the latest restaurant in Switzerland to be awarded 3 Michelin stars, and I tried to book a table for this summer back in January, but was unsuccessful. But I was on the waiting list and was fortunate enough to secure a table for lunch on Saturday 25th of June.